Local student innovator awarded for kite based, high altitude wind energy

Local student innovator awarded for kite based, high altitude wind energy

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, March 24, 2016 :  Roystan Vijay Castelino, 22, from Srinivas Institute of Technology, Mangaluru was on Panambur beach the home of the famous annual kite festival and he saw kites in the sky and an innovative idea crossed his mind;  harnessing high-altitude wind energy using kites.

Castelino put together a kite on the principle of converting kinetic energy (pulling force) to rotational motion. This project has won him the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award recently.  Castelino says existing wind power systems have an impact on the ecology, whereas does not have any such thing.

He notes the problems posed by electric energy generation from fossil sources include high costs, pollution and the geopolitics. These problems can be overcome by alternative sources that are renewable, cheap, easily available and sustainable. However, current renewable technologies have limitations. Based on the survey of different methods, he concluded kite energy was the economic way of harnessing high altitude wind energy.

He started with the initial experiment which had a simple control system to control a two line Kite. ``By studying thoroughly, I came to know the power from the kite is greatest when it is rotated in eight shape or infinity shape in the sky. I also observed that four line kite gives maximum power than dual line kite. So I started to build a rigid strong base with four line Kite control system,’’ he observes.

Castelino hails from Nakre village in Karkala. The project was undertaken in 2015 as part of his final year BE (electrical and electronics engineering) course under the guidance of Prof Lokesh B. The objective was to increase efficiency of wind-power generation, make it more economical, and help in rural electrification.

The four-line power or Para foil kite was ordered from China and materials used for project were bicycle parts, crank wheels (which formed the chain drive) and bicycle sprockets. The generator is made by modifying the ceiling fan with permanent magnets. Threads are wound over the rims of the bicycle for easy controlling. Wireless transmitter/receiver circuit controls the motor for handling of the kite and for winding back the thread. Chain drive is used to increase the speed economically.

Regarding the scope for future work, Castelino says the output of this project can be improved by increasing the area of the kite and also the project can be made fully automatic by installing sensors on the kite which determines the position of the kite and sends the data to the base station.

``As energy generated here is intermittent, two similar kites can be used to produce continuous power. By installing two similar kites, energy can be transferred to the utility grids directly. This project can be made highly portable by using a vehicle as a base station which consists of generator and control system,’’ he said the potentials are high.